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Burt Young, a gifted actor nominated for an Oscar, passed away on October 8, and the entertainment industry is in sorrow. While fans are expressing their tribute on various platforms, Burt’s best friend actor Sylvester Stallone penned his grief on Instagram. The two have remained long-time friends and worked together in the Rocky franchise.
The late actor died at 83 in Los Angeles, California, after a fruitful career. The actor was known to be a painter and an ex-military personnel. While he had a long list of movies under his belt, he is one of the few actors who featured in six movies of the Rocky franchise. He played the role of butcher Paulie, Rocky’s friend and brother-in-law, in the franchise.
Actor friend Stallone expressed his tribute by calling Burt, a dear friend. The short message, which aptly shows the feelings of the star towards his co-actor, reads:
“To my Dear Friend, BURT YOUNG, you were an incredible man’s and artist, I and the World will miss you very much…RIP”
Sylvester Stallone had convinced Burt Young to work in the Rocky franchise
Burt Young’s role as Paulie earned the actor Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for Rocky. He continued playing the role for the five sequels, although he didn’t appear in the spinoffs, the Creed films. The Creed spinoffs arrived after 2012 and canonically Paulie had passed away by then.
Young had told in an interview with Rumpus that Stallone came up to him at a meeting at MGM, introduced himself, and requested him to be in Rocky.
“He kneels down next to me. He says, “Mr. Young, I’m Sylvester Stallone. I wrote Rocky… But you’ve got to do it, please. You gotta.” I’m going to do it. He’s trying to twist my arm.”
Burt Young went on to do Rocky, Rocky II, Rocky III, Rocky IV, Rocky V, and Rocky Balboa with the action hero.
Burt Young: Cause of death unknown
While Burt Young passed away on October 8, 2023, the news became public ten days later on October 18. The death was confirmed by his daughter Anne Morea Steingieser in a statement to the New York Times. However, the cause of his death is not known as yet. The actor was 83 when he passed away.
Who was Burt Young, the actor?
Burt was born on April 30, 1940, in New York City as Gerald Tommaso DeLouise to Italian descendant parents Michael and Josephine DeLouise. He served in the United States Marine Corps from 1957 to 1959 and won 32 out of 34 boxing rounds during this period. For his acting career, he was trained at the Actors Studio by Lee Strasberg.
Besides the Rocky franchise with Stallone, Young worked in some hit movies which include Once Upon a Time in America, Chinatown, Back to School, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Amityville II: The Possession, and Downtown: A Street Tale, to name a few. His television appearances include The Sopranos, M*A*S*H, Law & Order, All in The Family, The Rockford Files and many more. He debuted on-screen with 1970’s Carnival of Blood.
Burt was a published writer of theatre plays and screenplays. In addition to being a gifted performer, the painter also created book covers and had pieces in Rocky Balboa. On the personal front, while Burt’s wife died in 1974, he is survived by his daughter Anne, brother Robert, and his grandson.
